Head to head · same category, comparable price
Compass Box Artist Blend vs Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old
No flavour axis separates them, so the difference on record is disclosure: Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old states 12 years, Compass Box Artist Blend states no age.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Compass Box Artist Blend | Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blended scotch | Blended scotch |
| Origin | Scotland | Scotland |
| Age | No age statement | 12 years |
| Strength | 43% ABV | 40% ABV |
| Cask | First-fill ex-bourbon barrel, custom medium-toast French oak, re-vatted Palo Cortado sherry-seasoned butt | Not disclosed |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £37 | £30 |
| Per 10cl | £5.29 | £4.29 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £123 | £107 |
| Chill-filtered | No | Not stated |
What separates them
Both from Scotland.
Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old states 12 years; Compass Box Artist Blend states none.
Compass Box Artist Blend lists first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, custom medium-toast french oak and re-vatted palo cortado sherry-seasoned butt. Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old publishes no cask detail at all.
Chill filtration: Compass Box Artist Blend is not, Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old does not say.
Colour: Compass Box Artist Blend natural colour, Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old silent.
What the price buys
Compass Box Artist Blend is £7.00 dearer a bottle than Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old.
Strength keeps that ordering: £107 a litre of pure alcohol for Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old against £123.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Compass Box Artist Blend is 10th cheapest and Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old 6th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Compass Box Artist Blend | Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 2 | 4 |
| Sweet | 6 | 6 |
| Fruity | 7 | 5 |
| Spicy | 5 | 5 |
| Woody | 5 | 5 |
| Sherried | 4 | 4 |
| Cereal | 6 | 5 |
| Oily | 6 | 6 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is peaty, 2 against 4.
Identical on sweet, spicy, woody, sherried and oily.
Each bottle in its own right
Compass Box Artist Blend
Bright orchard fruit and cream with a dry, spiced finish. Proof that a blend can be interesting.
Compass Box publishes the complete recipe by percentage, which no large blender does: 45% Cameronbridge grain, 22% Linkwood, 10% Clynelish, 10% Balmenach, 8% a Highland malt blend in custom French oak, 5% Linkwood in a Palo Cortado butt. Component ages are the one thing conspicuously absent. Formerly sold as Great King Street Artist's Blend.
Full record →Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old
Light smoke, dried fruit and vanilla over a soft, easy body. The most reliable blend on any shelf anywhere.
Diageo states the blend uses over 29 whiskies, every one matured a minimum of 12 years — the age statement is a floor across all components, not an average.
Full record →Both listed for first blended scotch; only Compass Box Artist Blend for value at 43% and transparency; only Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old for highball and value.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Compass Box Artist Blend and Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old: compassboxwhisky.com, cdn.shopify.com, thebar.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.